Three second half goals enabled Trinidad and Tobago to seize a 3-1 advantage in the first leg of their third round Digicel Caribbean Cup match against the St Vincent and the Grenadines at the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella on Sunday evening.Playing before a crowd of around 4,000 fans which saw St Vincent grab a 26th minute lead through Renson Haynes, the “Soca Warriors” gave a revamped second half showing and got goals through Gary Glasgow in the 51st, Leslie “Tiger” Fitzpatrick in the 54th and Nigel Pierre in the 61st minute to complete the win.T&T gave a sharp first half performance as the players gave a composed performance and looked likely to find the net on occasions. But still there were some areas which would have left coach Bertille St Clair obvious to seeing room for improvement.Inside eight minutes, Kerwyn Jemmott had goalie Melvin Andrews saving on his far post and then three minutes later a right side cross by Atiba Charles was met by Nigel Pierre but he looked on as his low effort came off the left post.The Vincentians were looking for breaks going forward and rightly got that when a loss in possession in the middle of the pitch by Gary Glasgow allowed them to break on the left, forcing Anthony Rougier to foul on the edge of the box. The result of that was an inswinging left side free kick by Kendall Velox for an unchallenged Haynes to head into the right corner of the goal.Rojas, playing out on the left, seemed a much more determined player than recent past and almost helped T&T pull back a goal before the break. First his cross led to Pierre’s header being saved and then moments later he got away from two challenges before centering but Jemmott’s shot was blocked.T&T came out after the break looking keen to get back on equal terms and just that they did. A short left side corner by Jemmott to Fitzpatrick led to Rojas’ left side ball falling for a diving Rougier to play into the path of Glasgow who turned and fired home from close up.Three minutes later, T&T surged forward once more and Rojas played inside for Glasgow who in turn laid back for Fitzpatrick to fire one into the right corner from just on top up the box. Up 2-1, T&T began to dominate possession but Pierre was guilty of missing another chance soon after while Williams had to push over an Aldwyn Guy header.A forceful run up right flank by Charles saw him try to find Glasgow but the pass was intercepted only for the latter to regain possession, moving inside before squaring for Pierre to slot home from close up.Down the stretch, Glasgow got a similar opportunity and somehow fumbled in the area. T&T were guilty of some complacency at the back as the minutes ticked away but only Velox’s free kick tested Williams as the time ran out.

Trinidad and Tobago coach Bertille St Clair was his usual serious self following Sunday's 3-1 win over St Vincent and the Grenadines but clapped his players for attempting to raise the intensity of their game.St Clair pointed out that his players were able to combine well with each other and kept shape for most of the match but he warned them against losing concentration at certain points of the match."The guys deserve credit for showing fight and hunger to do better," St Clair told TTFF Media. "And that is important for us at this stage of the campaign but at the same time, we saw that we got complacent and started playing around with the ball and losing it when we should not have. But I am seeing growth in the team and hopefully we can keep this up especially with the week of training to come in Antigua," St Clair added.Anthony Rougier who was pushed back into central defense after Keyeno Thomas pulled his hamstring in the first half, stressed that the main focus is on February 9 against the United States."We cannot afford to sit and think well fine, we've won today and things are okay. We are preparing right through for February 9 and I thought we got complacent and made errors that we cannot afford to make against the States. All these teams that we will be facing are very dread when it comes to making you pay for complacency or making mistakes. But you could see that there was some improvement in how we played as a team today and that is a result of hard work over the past few weeks and again this is what we will be aiming to achieve over the next couple of weeks," Rougier added.Interim captain Derek King said he was particularly pleased to see the local-based players playing their role."This team is showing promising signs and it can only be good for us a team if we can continue this sort of preparations and then go out and deliver on the pitch. This week coming is going to be a tough one but we are looking forward to it because it will play a vital role in getting us ready for the bigger games," said the Joe Public player.The team leaves on Monday morning for Antigua and is likely to travel without Thomas while midfielder Denzil Theobald was taken to hospital for treatment on an injured shin following a rash tackle from one of the Vincentians during the second half.Up-Close with Andre Samuel.

3-1……..a fair result? I think so! We were clearly the better team and we showed better passing efficiency! But, we didn’t separate ourselves quickly enough as a team that has been training everyday for the past few weeks for the final round of world cup qualifiers.

St Vincent was a good test for Trinidad, and I think that they are not a bad team. We looked good in the middle and up front a skeptical Glasgow was looking ok, but at the back, we were in some serious problems. Thank the lord above for Shaka Hislop, Clayton Ince and even Kelvin Jack! What I saw yesterday was the worst display of goalkeeping by a national team goalkeeper ever. Williams was tentative, and hesitant. His positional play was awful and his poor control of back passes could have cost us a goal or two. I want tuh know what this man does be doing in training!

As usual, we took a while to settle and St Vincent had the better of the exchanges during the first 5-10 minutes. We eventually came into our own and took the game from them with Fitzpatrick working like a real tiger in the middle alongside Rougier. Then came the injury to Keyeno and then St Clair made a very confusing decision. He brought on Theobald to replace Keyeno Thomas and played Rougier as a stopper alongside captain Derek King (who again did not put a foot wrong). We fared badly after this and St Vincent took the game to us since Theobald was not helping tiger in the middle as much as Rougier was. Kendall Velox was causing a lot of problems for our defenders and Anton Pierre was not having as good a game as the standards he has set. In fact, Pierre was out-jumped for the Vincey goal going into half time. But fellas, something happened that I never saw in football before! Going into the end of the first half, the Warriors were pressing for that equalizing goal and the Vinceys launched a stinging counter attack. It was four on one! The only thing that could have happened next was 2-0. But, with our defense out of position, and Williams at the mercy of four Vincey attackers, the referee blow off de first half, much to the surprise (and relief) of the Mannie Ramjohn Stadium. Zoran Vranes ran onto de field like a man mad…lol.

While the first half could have been called as being even, the second was not even close. Jemmott came to life in the second half and showed the ability that he has. His passing was visionary and his control was assured. He held the ball well created a lot of space for his wingman, namely Marlon Rojas. Gary Glasgow, while understandably guilty of skipping every challenge and not charging after 50-50 balls, showed some nice link touches with the Nigel “shotgun” Pierre (yes he losing weight fast). We scored three goals in a 10 minute flurry with the second the pick of the lot. It was a low drive from a nice build up from a man that due a goal in a national uniform…. Leslie Fitzpatrick. The joy was evident and the whole team was happy for him finally getting off the mark. Even the bench (except St Clair) was cheerful for the man’s first official stamp on a game! His goal followed Glasgow`s goal and Pierre`s tap in came after. It was all one-way traffic from then on with only the jittery-ness of Williams at the back of immediate concern. Glasgow should have scored a fourth but mist trapped a ball on the penalty spot with the goalkeeper at his mercy and no defender in sight! All in all it was a good performance by the Warriors, especially in the second half, where we put a lot of passes together and banished the use of the log ball! The one thing I will commend St Clair on is the use of Angus “bend it like Eve” Eve off the bench…..every one knows that I am not an Eve fan, but he seems pretty useful coming on late and adds that calming experience that he was supposed to give for 90 minutes during previous games!

Daurance Williams – 2.5:If this is an international goalkeeper then whey sah!!

Derek King – 7:
Not a bad game, stayed with the speedy attackers and showed some calm.

Anton Pierre – 6:Not his usually solid self but showed a lot of grit during the game.

Anthony Rougier – 5:Should not have been moved to the back, he was too slow and looked out of position!

Atiba Charles – 4.5:Another St Clair experiment that failed, he played on de wing and probably made one cross during the game (he was the obvious choice to replace Keyeno at the back).

Leslie Fitzpatrick – 7.5:Another gritty tireless performance for a man who is making his place on the team automatic! He ran hard after the balls he lost and snapped at heels. He linked well with the attackers and his fellow middle men.

Denzil Theobald – 5:I like Denzil as a player but he looked out of sorts today! His confidence seemed a little low he was too quick to pass the ball off even when he had space!

Marlon Rojas – 7:
Crossed the ball better today and looked a better player, he tackled well and ran hard. his left foot is coming into its own.

Kerwyn Jemmott – 7.5:If he had a better first half, he would have been my man of the match. I saw the Jemmott that promised so much. His passing showed glimpses of Latas!

Nigel Pierre – 6.5:Good game by his standards, he is losing weight and ran a little more today! I still see no place for him on de team but that is ah different matter!

Gary Glasgow – 6.5:Showed once again that he is a good link forward and is a fan of the flick on and back heel, had a nice come back game. He gave up on plays too easily though and missed a sitter.

Angus Eve – 6.5:Seemed to be what the doctor ordered towards the end. I think he deserves his place on the bench!

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